


(Ain’t) Too Proud to Beg

by hyenateeth



Category: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
Genre: F/F, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,405
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21869782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyenateeth/pseuds/hyenateeth
Summary: The newest Spider-Man was plastered all over the front pages still, and Liv squinted at the pictures, doing her best without her glasses. She remembered him - the skinny one who could turn invisible. Under his picture was a picture of Peter, all blonde hair and bright smile.She wondered how May was doing
Relationships: Olivia Octavius/May Parker (Spider-Man)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 155
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	(Ain’t) Too Proud to Beg

**Author's Note:**

  * For [misantlery](https://archiveofourown.org/users/misantlery/gifts).



When Liv woke up, she wondered about where the hell she was and why she felt like she had been hit by an eighteen-wheeler for about 3 minutes and 45 seconds - at which point it came back to her as suddenly as the truck that had hit her. The collider, the Spider-Peoples, and of course, her run in with a semi. It was a miracle she was alive -though it of course was not actually so much a miracle as her suit’s failsafe programming, so even if she was unconscious her arms would do what they could to protect her.

It certainly explained her location - which seemed to be in the front seat of a truck that was merged with the rubble of some part of Fisk Tower.

For a minute and 13 seconds Liv laid there, sprawled across the uncomfortable seats, pondering her defeat and the various pains in her body. If it hadn’t been for Fisk, hadn’t been for the Spider-People, hadn’t been for that fucking truck - but she couldn’t wallow. Science was always marching forward, no matter the set backs.

For another 27 seconds she considered visiting May. She didn’t know why. May certainly wouldn’t want to see her.

Gritting her teeth, Liv finally managed to move, just enough to find a keypad on her wrist and type in a code - one that made her suit writhe to life, lifting Liv’s limp body, arms reaching out to to search for an exit. It found one quickly, forcing the passenger door open and pulling Liv up and out - scrabbling along rubble, dragging its owner along.

She was going to pass out again, realized Liv. That was fine though. She let it happen, let her eyes close.

When she woke up, she was in a lab, sprawled on a foldable gurney, wearing a too big hospital gown.

“Oh thank Christ,” said the lab coated man standing by her - Dr. Pak, Alchemax employee said his nametag. “I was afraid you were gonna die - I didn’t want to be the one that let Dr. Octavius die.”

Liv hummed. Her ribs hurt and so did her head, but she had an IV in her arm - and she didn’t know if it was painkillers or nanobots or both, but it was helping. “Where am I? Was I seen?”

“No Ma’am,” answered Dr. Pak, scribbling onto a clipboard. “I don’t believe so at least - and you’re in our Manhattan building. Well, under it.” The man looked at her for the first time. He had dark eyes with heavy circles under them. He had a digital watch on his wrist that read 7:42 am. “We were surprised when we got the alert - there hasn’t been a Code Orange since 2016.”

Yes, Liv remembered that. The last time she had to make her suit drag her to the nearest safe Alchemax location for medical attention - in August 2016. A month before May had stopped talking to her, three months before she had finally become the head scientist at Alchemax. The promotion had meant moving to the Hudson Valley - which meant less fights that landed her in a tight spot. She could focus on her experiments at Alchemax, without limits or ethics boards or Spider-Man stopping her.

“I relocated,” was all she said, because talking hurt. “Is there a newspaper down here?”

“No, but give me a second.” The man pulled out his phone, and after a moment of fiddling he handed it to the prone woman, the screen reading the latest news.

 _New Spider-Man Swings In_ , read one headline. _Fisk Arrested for Involvement in Brooklyn Disaster_ , read another.

“Alchemax hasn't been connected, has it?”

“Any of our people who made it out fled the scene way before the cops got there, so not officially.” Dr Pak was back to scribbling. His bedside manner left a bit to be desired, but Olivia wasn’t exactly in a position to complain. “Only so many people would be capable of building that collider though, and if Fisk says anything-“

“Fisk won’t say anything,” she said dismissively, bracing herself to try and sit up. “People with that much money never say any-aah!”

Sitting up decidedly did not work, and Liv only made it up an inch or two before falling back down, pain shooting through her body.

“It’s going to take at least till the end of the day till you can walk,” said Dr. Pak, unconcerned, taking his phone back. “It's a miracle you didn’t die.”

Liv considered explaining how it wasn’t actually a miracle and was actually a feature of the suit - but decided instead to go back to sleep.

* * *

  
Liv wasn’t sure how long she slept or how many times she woke up. She had fitful, confusing dreams - probably a side effect of the nanobots repairing her body, making her temperature spike as it healed her faster than nature could account for. In one dream she was crawling in spiders while she gave a lecture - hoping her students didn’t notice. In another she was having tea with May and Peter - but both her and Peter were in costume and the ground wouldn’t stop shaking, spilling hot tea onto Liv, burning her hands. In another a severe woman with a high blonde bun was changing her IV while she hummed an old Motown classic - _ain’t too proud to plead, baby baby, please don’t leave me girl_ \- but that one might not have been a dream.

Eventually though, she woke up for good. She was alone, no sign of Dr. Pak or the blonde Motown fan. Slowly she got up, observing the fading bruises on her body, removing her IV carefully, looking around the lab. There were a few microscopes, Petri dishes and flasks - and across the room, her suit, arms lifeless and limp, with the few belongings she kept on her, a credit card, an Alchemax ID card, and a pack of breath mints. Beside those, some clothes - a drab grey t shirt and jeans that looked a size too big for her. Olivia sighed as she looked at them - she didn’t know why so many Alchemax employees were opposed to color. Or why so many seemed to still subscribe to fast fashion. Still, because beggars couldn’t be choosers, after she put her suit back on, retracting the arms into themselves, she put on the clothes. She found a jacket after that, hanging by the door - which meant it probably belonged to someone, but Liv took it anyway.

When she finally reached the busy Manhattan street it was just beginning to snow - and when she found a newspaper to squint at she realized another day must have passed since Liv woke up with Dr. Pak. It explained why she was so hungry.

The newest Spider-Man was plastered all over the front pages still, and Liv squinted at the pictures, doing her best without her glasses. She remembered him - the skinny one who could turn invisible. Under his picture was a picture of Peter, all blonde hair and bright smile.

She wondered how May was doing. She bought some falafel from a street vendor.

Olivia had no reason to feel guilty for Peter’s death of course, though she wasn’t sure if May would see it the same way. Even before, they had disagreed often - May thought Liv was cold, Liv thought May was a sap. Liv had liked Peter though, he was always polite and smart and loved his Aunt. And he was Spider-Man, had been the whole time.

Maybe that’s why May had been so reluctant to introduce them. How many times had she had dinner with her nemesis, talked bio-chemistry with him, she wondered. Hell, Liv had even offered him help with his grad school applications.

She ate her falafel, humming the same Motown song from her probably-not-dream - _I know you wanna leave me, but I refuse to let you go-_ and wondered if the bakery she used to go to with May was still around the corner, the one with the vegan cinnamon rolls they both liked.

Maybe she could bring her one. As an apology for destroying her house.

* * *

  
“What the hell are you doing here?” was the first thing May said when she opened the door.

“I was in the neighborhood,” answered Liv, faux-cheerful as she held out the white box wrapped in string in offering, _Romita Father and Son Bakery_ printed on the top. “Thought I’d drop by, say hi.”

May glanced down at the box, then back up at Liv.

For a long moment neither said anything.

Then May took the box.

“Come in then,” she snapped. “I know there’s no point in telling you to leave.”

Which was how Liv ended up sitting at May’s only surviving table, drinking coffee silently out of a chipped mug.

After a long silence and a few bites of cinnamon roll - Liv decided to say something.

“I can get this place fixed up, you know,” she said. “I mean - I can get you some money for it. We may have just lost our biggest donor but Alchemax pays well and I’ve been-“

“I don’t want your money, Liv,” May answered bluntly.

“Well sure but-“

“And I certainly don’t want any money given to you by Fisk.”

Liv fell silent again. Then, she cleared her throat.

“I um. My condolences, by the way. About Peter.”

Another ther sharp glare from May. Perhaps, Liv pondered, she shouldn’t have said anything. But she wanted to say something, and something being a bad idea had never stopped her before.

“I didn’t- I didn’t know Peter was Spider-Man.”

“I know.”

“And I didn’t- I had nothing to do with it. Fisk-“

“Don’t lie to me Liv.” May had stopped glaring. She just looked tired now. Liv wanted to take her hand, but she didn’t. She wanted to explain how she had just been trying to get funding for her collider, Fisk was the one who took it too far, who had killed Peter - but she didn’t say that either.

Instead she asked - “Is that why you broke up with me? Because of Peter?”

She hadn’t meant to ask it, not so directly. But it had been on her mind, or at least the part of her mind she compartmentalized for thinking about things other than her experiments, ever since she had seen the familiar face on the news. And now that her collider was in ruins, her work destroyed, the thought kept bubbling back up.

“Christ, Liv - if there is one thing I don’t want to talk about right now it’s that.” May rubbed her temple, closing her blue eyes in frustration.

Despite herself, Liv bristled. Petulant jealousy was brewing low in her stomach, at May’s apparent disinterest in her. “I just never thought you would be the one keeping secrets,” she sniped, stirring her coffee to keep her hands busy. “Was it all a ploy to spy on one of his enemies? A little honeypot trap?”

“Oh fuck you, Liv,” sighed May wearily. “We both know that’s not true.”

“Well-“

“And I broke up with you because you had gone too far, not because of Peter- or not entirely because of him.” The older woman sighed again, leaning back in her chair, opening her eyes and meeting Liv’s gaze. “I won’t say it wasn’t hard, keeping his secrets, pretending like I didn’t know that one day you or him might… But that wasn’t why. When you started working with Alchemax, started messing around with the space time continuum - I just couldn’t.”

Liv felt like she had been hit by another truck. She hated it, how May could still make her feel like this after two years. “But I was right!” she heard herself snapping. “They said I was crazy but I was right, you can access multiple universes, I’ve done it-“

“I know you did.” May shook her head, almost fondly, and turned back down to the cinnamon roll. “I know you did.”

Liv frowned and finished her coffee in one long gulp. This was not going the way she wanted. So she finished her coffee and, staring into her empty cup, tried again.

“I’ve missed you,” she said, quietly.

“I could tell by the way you destroyed my house.”

Something almost like a smile crossed May’s face, and Liv felt her heartbeat increase from its standard 65 bpm to something closer to 80 bpm. Her mind raced, the normally chatty woman looking for something to say, the right thing to say that would make May understand-

“May? Maaay? I’m here!” A voice broke through the moment, and a moment later someone, a young boy, was bounding into May’s mostly destroyed kitchen like he belonged there. He froze when he saw Olivia though, eyes going wide and owlish, grabbing the straps of his backpack nervously.

“Miles!” greeted May, and her voice changed on a dime, warm and maternal, like how she had spoken to Peter. “Olivia, this is Miles, I've been tutoring him. Miles, this is Dr. Olivia Octavious.”

“I know who you are!” said the boy, looking Liv up and down. “I saw you in a video for school.”

Oh. Right. When she looked closer she realized the boy was wearing a Visions Academy uniform. Awkwardly, Liv smiled, hoping her more visible bruises had been healed by the nanobots. Perhaps she should have consulted a mirror at some point.

“An educational one I hope,” she said, nodding at the boy, who shifted nervously. It was a little flattering, how starstruck he seemed.

“Miles is helping me clean up my house, after his tutoring” said May, a bit pointedly. “After the earthquakes wrecked it.”

“I can come back later,” Miles said, clearly eyeing May’s partially eaten cinnamon roll. “If you’re uh, busy.”

“Oh no, don't let me keep you.” Liv flashed the boy a smile, before turning back to May. “I’ll see you later May?”

May’s eyes betrayed nothing. No wonder Liv had never realized she had been keeping secrets from her.

“Of course you will,” was all she said.

Liv made her exit quickly, though not before telling the boy that if he ever needed science tutoring to get in contact. When she got outside the light was dimming, and the snow was still falling.

Slowly, she began the walk to the nearest bus station, humming a she went - _ain't too proud to beg, and you know it, please don't leave me girl-_

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Yuletide, I hope you like it!
> 
> The song mentioned in the fic and title is Ain’t Too Proud to Beg by The Temptations.


End file.
